Monday, October 3, 2011

General Conference time just ended for those of us in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Every 6 months our prophet and other general authorities
within the church speak to us from the conference center, and give us
valuable advice and direction. My husband and I were discussing last
night whether we felt there was a theme to this year's talks.
Usually you will hear an overriding theme mentioned in many talks,
but this time round neither my husband nor I heard one. I have been
looking at other blogs to see if anyone else caught a theme or heard
something repeatedly, and found many different topics mentioned.
It's funny to me how different people hear different things. What
stood out to me as mentioned at least twice through the sessions was
the concept of things being worked on "Line upon line, precept
upon precept." Not sure who it was that said that the Holy
Ghost speaks all truth but doesn't give all the truth all at once
(Paraphrasing here). I know one of my biggest weaknesses is going
all gung ho about something and overwhelming myself with it. I have
been working on the line upon line bit for a while now. Instead of
making my family perfect up front, I am working toward perfection
slowly.

A while back our children
were very young (and less in number) and we didn't really DO Family Home Evening or family scripture study or family prayer. Slowly I
have worked us up to it. We started with family prayer. For about 6
months I focused on us praying as a family each day/night. Once that
became habit, we added in family scripture study. After another 4 - 6 months that too, became a
habit, and we have added in personal prayer for the kids (we now help
the girls remember each night before bed to pray on their own, and
help Lacey with her prayers). Now that we have added that as part of
our daily routines, I am feeling like its time to really focus on
FHE. This one is hard for me as it has never been a regular habit with Joe and I before the kids,
but I know I can do it.

I also know that a lot of
these habits are about flexibility, and doing what works best for you
and your family. For example: I am well aware of the fact that many
family's chose to do their family prayer and scripture study in the
morning. And The Church sets aside Monday night as Family Night.
But neither of these options work well for us, so we have adjusted
some... My husband gets up at 5:30 most mornings, and is gone to
work by 6:30. Instead of having my children wake up that early, we
have decided to do our family prayer and scripture study at night.
After dinner, but before bed. For now, with kids too young to be at
work or on a date after dinner, this works for us. So that's how we
run it. Also, with Lilia's gymnastics, it really makes FHE on
Monday's near impossible. She doesn't get home from gymnastics (and
therefore we don't start to eat or usually even MAKE dinner) until
6:45pm. With bedtime at 8pm and family scriptures and prayer, along
with the usual bedtime routine, that leaves about 15 minutes to get
in FHE. Sooooo we are moving FHE to a different night. Most likely
Tuesday night.

There were two talks back to
back Saturday afternoon that stood out to me. Elder Andersen spoke
about parenting, and Elder Ardern spoke on time management and
technology. I am kind of combining the two to bring up this last
point for me. Elder Andersen mentioned a Christian woman's blog on
motherhood. The author of the blog said (and was quoted by Elder
Andersen):

“Motherhood
is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because
you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can
squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.
“

I looked up this blog and
went on to read (as not quoted by brother Andersen):

“The
question here is not whether you are representing the gospel, it is
how you are representing it. Have you given your life to your
children resentfully? Do you tally every thing you do for them like a
loan shark tallies debts? Or do you give them life the way God gave
it to us—freely?

It
isn’t enough to pretend. You might fool a few people. That person
in line at the store might believe you when you plaster on a fake
smile, but your children won’t. They know exactly where they stand
with you. They know the things that you rate above them. They know
everything you resent and hold against them. They know that you faked
a cheerful answer to that lady, only to whisper threats or bark at
them in the car.

Children
know the difference between a mother who is saving face to a stranger
and a mother who defends their life and their worth with her smile,
her love, and her absolute loyalty.”

Wow. Talk about a bold statement! Do my children know where they
stand with me? I bet they do... Now, do they know they rank above
the computer, above my cell phone, above my own personal needs? I
sure hope so... But just to be safe, I think now is a good time for
me to back off of many things I spend too much time on. Most
importantly, Facebook. Though I am not going to delete my account, I
am going to tune it WAY down. Though I love Scrabble, (or as called
online, Words with Friends) I don't think I should spend so much time
playing games. For all those friends I am currently playing,
congratulations! You win! I am resigning from the games and blocking
the game (to avoid being tempted back into it).

I have so many better things I could be doing with my kids. Just a
few days ago I spent 30 minutes chasing my son around the house and
tackling him to the ground and smothering him with kisses and
tickles. He couldn't stop laughing and kept running away, then
stopping, and turning around to see if I was following him. That
pure laughter from him was so good for my weary soul. During one of
the conference sessions, I cuddled up with Lacey. I spent the whole
two hours listening to prophetic council and brushing her hair, and
hugging her tight. She whispered she loved me, and I whispered it
right back. She makes my heart light. I sometimes am given the
opportunity to watch snipits of Lilia in gymnastics. She is so
amazing, and she is so GOOD, and she is so talented. And I fill with
pride (the good kind) when I see her working hard and achieving her
goals. I find myself wanting to tell everyone in earshot, “That's
my daughter. The one who just did that perfect ___(fill in the
gymnastics move here)_.” She brings a big smile to my face.
In the car, I frequently look in the rear view mirror and catch Lil's
eye. She smiles, then holds up her hand in the classic sign for “I love you.” I hold my hand up for her. Except I have
tweaked it to show our own sign of “I love you too.” (The ring
finger is the only finger left down- “I” is the pinky, “Love”
is the first finger and thumb, “You” is the pinky and thumb, and
“too” (two) is the first and second finger”). Man my kids are
amazing. And I want them to know that I know it. Here's to
hoping...

The whole fam

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About Me

Nothing special here, except the over use of emoticons :S and ellipses...I have two adorable girls, and one handsome little boy. I really like our family. Not just our kids, but the whole darn family. Siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents... you name 'em, I like 'em.